One of the easiest and quickest ways to boost your bottom line is by mastering the art of the upsell. One of the best kept business secrets of highly successful companies is the fact that they make their big money on the back end on the upsell – After customers have made the initial buying decision.
When it comes to upselling customers, the process begins with a little thing called attitude. You must be in the right frame of mind to make full use of its powers.
There are a number of items that you need to do – or prepare – to begin upselling:
Carefully Plan the Products You Want to Upsell
Are you going to require a minimum purchase amount to qualify for the product? What companion products will make sense for the customer to add on to his or her purchase? What products make sense for every purchase?
Upsell Only When They Commit to Buy
It is not wise to offer your upsell item until they have already committed to buy as it could interfere with your sale. It should be offered once a commitment to buy has been expressed.
Make Sure Your Offer is Specific
Average business owners ask, “Will that be all today?” That’s not an upsell. McDonalds struck it rich by asking, “May I add a hot apple turnover to your order today?” In the closet business an example of an upsell are accessories. After the customer has agreed to purchase the product, it would be a good time to ask if they would like to add accessories such as tie racks or jewelry trays.
Make Sure Your Product or Service is Valuable, Timely and Needed
Otherwise, you run the risk of your customer feeling slighted (believing that you are offering something to reduce inventory. Don’t do this unless you offer deep discounts and you tell the customer up front that this is the reason why you’re offering such a great deal.)
Ask Your Employees
Your employees are a great resource for you. They are seeing what works in customers homes and what products add a lot of value to the home. Ask them what works as companion products to your line.
Train Your Employees
Training is important to your success. You do not want a hit and miss effort or you will find it works for a while and then you will get out of the habit of doing it. You may even want to implement an incentive program until upselling becomes a habit for your sales team. It is also important that your employees provide everything the customer needs and there may be opportunities for you to begin offering another product or service that aligns with your current product
Upselling is one of the most neglected yet predictably effective techniques you can use to instantly improve the average value of every sales transaction. Experiment and find the right combination. The results will be pleasantly surprising to you. You really can add as much as 30% to your bottom line with this single technique. You could also add much more!
